Biomolecules

What are Biomolecules?

 Organic compounds made by

living things
 Also called biochemicals
 Some are very large
 There are thousands of different
biomolecules, but are separated
into 4 categories
 Click on a Category
1) Carbohydrates 2) Lipids

4) Nucleic Acids
3) Protein

Done with all

4 categories
 1) Carbohydrate Facts
 The simplest biomolecules
 Contain 3 elements:
– Carbon
– Hydrogen
– Oxygen
 The word carbohydrate comes from
the fact that these compounds have
many carbon atoms bonded to
hydroxide (OH) groups.
 Carbohydrate Facts
 Serve 2 main functions:
1. Source of chemical energy for cells in many
living things.
2. Part of the structural material of plants

 Come in all sizes, from small rings to long

chains.
Two Types of Carbohydrates

Simple
Carbohydrates

Complex SUGAR

Carbohydrates

STARCH CELLULOSE

Click to watch
Brainpop: Carbohydrates.
 Sugar
 Break down quickly in the body
 Provide a quick burst of energy or a
“sugar rush”
 Glucose is the most important &
simplest sugar on Earth.
– Used in cells & created by photosynthesis
– It comes in many forms
Examples of Simple Sugars
 Starch
 Long chains of simpler sugars joined together
 These big molecules are called macromolecules
 Also called polysaccharides or polymers
 Slower to break down in the body & provide
energy for a longer period of time than regular
sugars.
 Starch Examples

Potatoes Wheat Corn

 Did you know that?
Marathon runners, tri-athletes, cyclists like
Lance Armstrong, and other endurance
runners eat carbohydrates for weeks
leading up to a big event. They call it
“carbo-loading”. Even high school athletes
occasionally have “pasta feeds” the night
before a big game. What’s the point? As
the athletes consume massive amounts of
starch and pasta, the energy begins to
store up in their body, saving itself for use
during the event.
Function

 Provide QUICK energy to the body!

 2) Lipids

FACTS STRUCTURE

SATURATED & CHOLESTEROL

UNSATURATED

done! watch
brainpop: fats
Lipid Facts
 Lipids include:
– Fats
– Oils
 Most lipids are made of just carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen.
 But unlike carbohydrates, fats are more
complex & take much longer to break
down.
 So, fats are high-energy molecules that
plants and animals use to store energy
in reserves for longer periods.
Lipid Facts
 Plants store energy in oils, like
olive oil, corn oil, or peanut oil.
 An oil is a fat that is liquid at
room temperature.
 Lipid Structure
 Fats & oils store energy super-
efficiently, 1 gram of fat contains
about twice the energy as 1 gram
of carbohydrate. Fatty acid
Glycerol
 A fat molecule has a 2-part chains
backbone
structure.
 The first part is called glycerol.
 Attached to the glycerol are 3
long chains called fatty acids.
 Saturated and Unsaturated
 Saturated fats
– only single bonds in the
carbon chain
– Most animal fats
– “bad” fats
– Diets high in saturated fat
are linked to heart disease

 Unsaturated fats
– one or more double bonds
in the carbon chain
– Most oils from plants
– “good” fats
 Fat Examples
Saturated Fats

Unsaturated Fats
 Cholesterol
 Cholesterol is another lipid in cell
membranes
 It is also needed to make
hormones like adrenaline
 Your body makes the cholesterol
that it needs, but it is also found
in many foods that come from
animals, like meat and eggs.
 Although you need cholesterol,
eating too much of it can block
arteries and lead to heart
disease.
Function
 Made mainly of carbon and
hydrogen (few oxygen)
 Fat best method of
STORING
 forms cell membranes
 Insulates nerve cells
(myelin)
 Insulates body (maintains
homeostasis)
 3) Proteins
FACTS AMINO
ACIDS

ENZYMES PROTEINS
IN THE DIET
VITAMINS
DONE!
 Protein Facts
 Proteins are big molecules called
macromolecules
 Made of smaller molecules called amino
acids
 Made of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen,
nitrogen, sulfur, & some other elements
 There are at least 100,000 proteins in your
body
 Each has a different structure that gives it
a specific job.
 There are 4 types of structure, including
coils & curls.
 Proteins in the Diet
 It’s important to have lots
of protein in your diet!
 Proteins in foods such as
meats, soybeans, & nuts
are broken down into
amino acids.
 Without protein, your
body can’t function
perfectly..
 This is why it’s important
for vegetarians to find
protein from non-animal
sources.
 Vitamins
 Most of the chemicals needed for life can by
made by your own body, like proteins.
 However, there are certain chemicals that your
body does not automatically make.
 We call these vitamins & minerals.
 Important daily vitamins & minerals include
calcium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and a
whole bunch of B vitamins.
 The only place to get these: food!!
Vitamin C
 Ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, is
needed for several important
processes in your brain &
nervous system.
 Scurvy results from a lack of
vitamin C in your diet.
 It causes of spotting on the skin,
spongy gums, and bleeding
membranes, and can
eventually lead to death.
 The British Royal Navy were
among the first to discover this
vitamin deficiency, when they
noticed their sailors would get
sick without fresh fruits &
vegetables.
Scurvy
Scurvy Affecting Gums
Scurvy treated with Vitamin C
Scurvy Affecting Joints/Skin
Defensive proteins
Function: Protection against disease
Example: Antibodies inactivate and help
destroy viruses and bacteria.

Antibodies

Virus Bacterium
Storage proteins
Function: Storage of amino acids
Examples: Casein, the protein of milk, is
the major source of amino acids for baby
mammals. Plants have storage proteins
in their seeds. Ovalbumin is the protein
of egg white, used as an amino acid
source for the developing embryo.

Ovalbumin Amino acids

for embryo
Transport proteins
Function: Transport of substances
Examples: Hemoglobin, the iron-containing
protein of vertebrate blood, transports
oxygen from the lungs to other parts of the
body. Other proteins transport molecules
across cell membranes.

Transport
protein

Cell membrane
Hormonal proteins
Function: Coordination of an organism’s
activities
Example: Insulin, a hormone secreted by
the pancreas, causes other tissues to
take up glucose, thus regulating blood
sugar concentration.

Insulin
High secreted Normal
blood sugar blood sugar
Receptor proteins
Function: Response of cell to chemical
stimuli
Example: Receptors built into the
membrane of a nerve cell detect signaling
molecules released by other nerve cells.

Receptor
protein
Signaling molecules
Contractile and motor proteins
Function: Movement
Examples: Motor proteins are responsible
for the undulations of cilia and flagella.
Actin and myosin proteins are
responsible for the contraction of
muscles.
Actin Myosin

Muscle tissue 30 m
Structural proteins
Function: Support
Examples: Keratin is the protein of hair,
horns, feathers, and other skin appendages.
Insects and spiders use silk fibers to make
their cocoons and webs, respectively.
Collagen and elastin proteins provide a
fibrous framework in animal connective
tissues.

Collagen

Connective tissue
60 m
Function of Proteins

 Provides us with building

blocks for life!
 Also regulate most functions
in a cell.
 Glycoproteins (antigens)
 Combines w/DNA to form
chromosomes
 Turns genes on and off
 Antibodies (fights disease)
Function of Proteins

 Provides structure &

strength (fibers)
 Transports molecules in &
out cells
 Hemoglobin (transports
O2)
 Enzymes (speeds up
rxns)- has –ase suffix
 Acts as hormones
(insulin)- many proteins
have suffix of -in
 4 ) Enzymes
 Some proteins curl up into a
shape like a ball of enzymes.
 An enzyme is a special
protein & a catalyst for a
chemical reaction in living
things.
 Catalysts speed up the rate
of a reaction.
 Enzymes are needed for
many chemical reactions in
your body.
 Without them, these
reactions would occur too
slowly to keep you alive.
 Nothing works without enzymes!
 How important are enzymes?
– all chemical reactions in living organisms
require enzymes to work
enzyme
• building molecules
– synthesis enzymes +

• breaking down molecules enzyme

We can’t live – digestive enzymes
without enzymes! +

– enzymes speed up reactions

• “catalysts”
 Enzymes

 Are specific for

what they will
catalyze
 Are Reusable
 End in –ase
-Sucrase
-Lactase
-Maltase 43
Define enzymes
(Enzymes as Biological Catalysts)

 Enzymes are proteins that increase the

rate of reaction by lowering the energy
of activation

 They catalyze nearly all the chemical

reactions taking place in the cells of the
body.

 Not altered or consumed during

reaction.
ACTIVE SITES

 Enzyme molecules contain a special

pocket or cleft called the active sites.
Lock-and-Key Model
 In the lock-and-key model of enzyme action:
- the active site has a rigid shape
- only substrates with the matching shape can
fit
- the substrate is a key that fits the lock of the
active site
 5) Nucleic Acids
 Largest & most complex biomolecule
 Includes:
– DNA
– RNA
 Contain information that cells
use to make proteins
 Made of:
– Carbon
– Hydrogen
– Oxygen
– Nitrogen
Friedrich Miescher in 1869
 Isolated what he
called nuclein from
the nuclei of pus
cells
 Nuclein was shown
to have acidic
properties, hence it
became called
nucleic acid
The distribution of nucleic acids in
the eukaryotic cell

 DNA is found in the nucleus

with small amounts in
mitochondria and chloroplasts
 RNA is found throughout
the cell
 Naming conventions
 Enzymes named for reaction they catalyze
– sucrase breaks down sucrose
– proteases break down proteins
– lipases break
down lipids
– DNA polymerase builds DNA
• adds nucleotides
to DNA strand
– pepsin breaks down
proteins (polypeptides)
 DNA Facts
 Deoxyribonucleic acid
 One of the largest
molecules
 A single DNA molecule
has more than 1 million
atoms.
 DNA Structure
 Twisted ladder or double
helix
 The sides of the ladder
are made of:
– sugar molecules called
deoxyribose
– phosphate group
 The “rungs” of the ladder
are made of:
– Nitrogen bases
 4 Nitrogen Bases
 Occur in matched sets:
– Adenine (A) to Cytosine (C)
– Thymine (T) to Guanine (G)
 The order of the bases in DNA is the way in which
DNA stores instructions for making proteins.
 Each of the 20 amino acids is represented by a
series of 3 DNA bases.
 For example, the sequence T-A-C is the code for
the amino acid tyrosine.
 Concept Map
Section 2-3

Carbon
Compounds
include

Carbohydrates Lipids Nucleic acids Proteins

that consist of that consist of that consist of that consist of

Sugars and
Fats and oils Nucleotides Amino Acids
starches
which contain which contain which contain which contain

Carbon, Carbon, Carbon,hydrogen, Carbon,

hydrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen,oxygen,
oxygen oxygen phosphorus nitrogen,
 Try to fill in this table from memory:

Monomers Polymers Examples

Complex Starch,
Simple sugars Carbohydrates Cellulose, etc.

Hemoglobin,
Amino acids Proteins
Keratin, etc.

Fatty acids & Lipids Fats, waxes,

glycerol oils, steroids.

Nucleotide Nucleic Acids DNA, RNA

Which biomolecule has the most
energy?
C-H bonds

 Count the number of C-H bonds in

your monosaccharide picture.
 Count the number of C-H bonds in
your saturated or unsaturated bond
picture
 Which biomolecule (carbs or fats)
have more C-H bonds?
The number of C-H bonds = the
amount of energy

 The more C-H bonds a

biomolecule has, the more
energy it has!
 Fats have the most energy
because they have the most C-
H bonds!